Desulfurization

Providing gases to the industry in a safe, reliable and efficient way has been the core of our business for over a century. Our expertise in hydrogen, one of the most important gases for industrial applications, stretches back close to 50 years. In the oil and gas industry, hydrogen is mainly used to desulfurize fuels. Air Liquide masters the entire hydrogen chain, from production through to distribution, adapting its solutions to meet increasingly stringent standards.

Desulfurization at a glance

Desulfurization is the process of using hydrogen gas to reduce the sulfur content in hydrocarbons thus reducing the emissions of sulfur oxides which are responsible for acid rain. Countries across the globe have increasingly strict regulations in place to limit the sulfur content in fuels.

Using hydrogen gas to reduce the sulfur content in hydrocarbons

Our reliable supply of hydrogen gases is crucial to the refining industry that requires this gas to desulfurize fuels and break up heavy hydrocarbons. The demand for hydrogen is growing due to the combination of increasingly stringent emission legislation and the use of heavier hydrocarbons.

An hydrogen production unit in Belgium.

Our gas solutions

Air Liquide has around 50 hydrogen production units across the globe. Moreover, it has a total of 1,850 km of hydrogen pipelines. To illustrate the impact of our hydrogen solutions, they are used to prevent the release of the equivalent of roughly 700,000 metric tons of sulfur oxides every year. This represents twice the total emissions of a country like France.